Tag Archive for: Capoeira

Ilana Queiroz is a Center for World Music teaching artist who specializes in Brazilian percussion, singing, dance, and capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial art that includes elements of dance, acrobatics, and music. Originally from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, Ilana has been teaching since 2000. During that time, she has worked with more than a dozen schools in the San Diego area. She also taught Afro-Brazilian and Afro-Cuban rhythms in Andalucía, Spain, in 2004 and 2005.

Ilana participates in Ginga Mundo, a global capoeira association headquartered in her home town in Brazil, and plays percussion professionally with ensembles in many styles, including bossa nova. She thus brings a wealth of teaching experience to World Music in the Schools.

A trained anthropologist, Ilana has a profound interest in culture. She began teaching capoeira because she noticed that, while this practice had begun to spread all over the world, the focus on the history, lyrics, meaning, and purpose of the art form was being lost in the process.

Ilana loves to use music and dance as an approach to history, and as an anthropologist, she sees capoeira as an excellent vehicle for teaching inclusion and community involvement. As a mother, she ensures the lessons are accessible to children of all ages and learning styles.

Capoeira for me is a complete art. It teaches timing, spatial perception, eye contact, respect, community, and partnership. It teaches children to be courageous and to try new activities in different disciplines. Capoeira encourages movement which allows kids to literally see the world from another perspective—doing cart wheels, hand and head stands.—Ilana Queiroz

In her experience as a teacher, Ilana finds that capoeira encompasses so many aspects of learning that each child can find a favorite element in the art to focus on. Her capoeira class consists of stretches, warm up (often with games related to the history or movements learned), and technique (kicks, dodges, timing, and dance sequences). Musically, she teaches rhythm and various instruments through capoeira songs. Children learn how to play the agogô (double bell), pandeiro (frame drum), atabaque (tall hand drum), reco-reco (scraper), caxixi (shaker) and sometimes the berimbau (musical bow). Every instrument has a different feel and technique, contributing to distinct musical patterns.

The students develop the ability to work in harmony with each other and multitask through capoeira’s style of vocal call-and-response. The lyrics are in Portuguese, so students have a chance to learn songs in a new language, bringing the students a new linguistic experience. Some lyrics are very old and simple, reflecting a certain time in the past, so Ilana uses this opportunity to tell the story about what life was like for these songwriters and dancers. In this way she is able to integrate language, geography, history, and movement into her lessons.

Ilana’s teaching philosophy is to facilitate contact with the culture, develop a sense of community, and to encourage familiarity of the capoeira player with his or her own body. She also sees great value in exposure to rhythm, the native language, and different instruments. Most especially, she tries to teach her students that happiness is the fuel for a healthy life.

Visit Ilana Queiroz’s website.